Nizwa, Triathalon, Mutrah, Chillin' with the Ambassador, New car!

Salaam,

I have a lot I need to catch up on, so here is a long one!

On August 21st Sara, Jeff, and I took our first road trip! We went to Nizwa with an unexpected and glorious side trip to Wadi Tanuf! We arrived in Nizwa after an hour and 45 minutes and checked out the souqs there. There were craft, vegetable, and spice souqs which is pretty standard. Then we checked out the goat souq! Apparently the Omani goats are very particular and will not deviate from their schedule, so they refused to show up on a Thursday morning; only Fridays. But, we did see the fish souq as they were closing up. Hey dude, WHAT A FISH! It obviously smelled very fishy, and the floor was spotted with blood, fins, and dead fish. We roamed around a bit and discovered a small shark, a huge head which was larger than my torso and looked like it was a sword fish or something, and they were chopping up another large on which was too big for the table. The "craft" souq in Nizwa.

After the souqs we went to the Nizwa fort. We learned a bit about the history of the fort, and how they used to live in the region. Dates were an essential part of life. Everything about the tree and the fruit was used in so many ways; from boiling syrup to pour on invaders, to food, baskets, and other daily products.

After the fort we were hungry, and since I am not the only one who become 'Senor grumpy pants' when i am hungry, we quickly found a small shwarma place. The place was crowded with flies and there were a few patrons buzzing, but we decided it would be fine. And the food was pretty good, and the banana smoothie was incredible! Sorry BB, but I think I have a new favorite drink!

After our delicious "lunche" we went in search of a cave we had read about. We were flying down the road in the wide valley and suddenly Jeff yelled, "Camels!" So, we pulled a U-ie, got honked at, and pulled off on a side road to have a close encounter with our first camels!

-My first camel! -The bombed village at Wadi Tanuf

After taking too many pictures of the camels we jumped back into the car and went down the road to the cave... which we found out was closed! So, on our way back we saw a sign for Wadi Tanuf, and in the staff lounge, I heard that it was a cool place. Off we went down a two lane road in the desert like any other road we had been on that day, but suddenly it took a 90 degree turn and soon after became only slightly big enough for our car, and the scenary went from desert to a small but beautiful and refreshing date palm tree forest. It was like being in a forest in colorado, but with palms. As suddenly as we came upon it, we were out of it and the road widened and at a fork there was an old town we had heard of, it was bombed in the 60's when the Sultan's father was trying to unite Oman (he must have had some American history courses! Only kidding!) We toured the village a while. The bombed houses are now mostly washed out.
-Cars crossing the Wadi Tanuf

At the village, we kept hearing people's voices and water running. We couldn't figure out if they were the spirits of the village trying to communicate with us, or if it was just the Wadi Tanuf we had heard about. Turns out, just 100 meters down the road and directly off the cliff of the village was the beautiful Wadi Tanuf. So, we left the spirits and joined the living. There were dozens of cars and hundreds of people enjoying picnics and swimming in the water. We walked along the rocky banks and said hello to the people. I have known only the slightest discomfort when it comes to discrimination or stares. And, at the Wadi, people seemed excited to see us, but outside of the cities, it is strange to see white women, and people were very curious about Sara. It was not at all negative, but I could feel the stares and see the curiosity in their faces about Sara. I only bring this up to share the fact that, yes, there is a strangeness about white women in Arabia; but, it exists on a next-to-nothing level in Muscat, and at the Wadi, it was just as if they had never seen someone like that, who dressed like that before.

-Another picture of the old village. -Sara and Jeff at the Wadi.

We left the Wadi and made our way back to Muscat feeling tired, happy, and accomplished that we had completed our first road trip.

The next day, on that Friday, I woke up early to go do the swimming part of a Triatholon sponsored in part by Red Bull! A woman from the American British Academy invited us during Ultimate one night, so, I volunteered for the swimming portion. She, Janelle, was doing the bike, and Lydia did the run. I ended up placing second, and am excited to do some more (they happen once a month)! Plus, I got free red bull!

Last weekend we took it easy. Sara and I did a hike down by Mutrah, which was nice. It was through a canyon and was only about 5 k roundtrip. We started around 8 and we finished at 10, but it already was about 95 degrees! We are going to have to start the future hikes earlier. The shade is actually pretty nice; nice enough to stop sweating for a little bit, and always a great place for water breaks. After the hike we did some major shopping and the Mutrah Souq. I bought pillows for my classroom and some Christmas gifts! We had a great conversation with the guy selling us all of our stuff and since I ran out of cash, he came with us to the bank and on our way back he got us some tea and water. I will make it a point to visit his shop everytime I go down there, hopefully I can get some more tea from him!

-Pictures: Top - a huge monument of a frankencense burner. This was the start of our hike.

-Bottom: A greener part of our hike.

-Sara in a pineapple slide after our hike.

-Sara and I having lunch outside the souq after the hike.

School is going well, but very stressful. Well, I should say busy. But, I feel like I am always behind, which is normal, because as teachers, we always want to be better prepared, which means we always could spend days preparing for one class. But, I am very happy with it and I think Carla (the ES French teacher) and I are putting in a lot of work so next year will be much easier. Also, Sara and I did an impromptu "Who's line is it anyway" type skit in front of the middle school which was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. To sum up, I was the princess and Sara the knight who carried me off stage. Pictures to come!

This past weekend was a blast, we had a pre-party at Lucas' and then went to the U.S. Ambassador's house for a welcoming party. the food and wine was fantastic and bottomless until 10 pm. We had a great time meeting some of the people who worked there and just hanging out outside of school. Afterword, Carla, a few other Lebanese teachers, and I went to smoke Hasheesh (sp?). However, only two of us smoked. It was a delicious berry flavor. After we went back to Lucas til 2ish. My first crazy night in Oman.

Right - Jeff and I went golfing before the ambassador's party. Can you "sand trap" and "putting browns"?

Thursday morning I met with Eden, my soon-to-be maid who I share with a family and my neighbors Miguel and Sarah. I know what it sounds like, but she only comes for 3 hours, one day a week. I just got sick of sweeping and mopping faster than I thought, and I don't even have time to write on this, so how am I supposed to clean the floor of my entire apartment?

After setting that up, Lydia and I went down to the Kia dealorship. On the way down I was practicing my bargaining skills with Lydia. "I want the 2008 for OR 5,800" "I want free insurance" "I'm not going to buy it unless I get free service!". I ended up buying the 2009 Kia, getting a cheap insurance, but not free, and they just don't give free service! But, it was still cheap enough and they have a great warranty for 6 years, unlimited mileage which can be transferred to another buyer. So, I am very happy with it! I have already named her Taj, steming from the stupid pronunciation we have given the 'Kia Sportage'. Sara actually came up with the name after I said I wasn't going to give it a name since I loved the "Sportage" as a name. I can't wait to show picture of why I need an SUV (sorry mother earth!) I picked it up from the dealorship last night at 10! I was so exhausted though, I could barely show my excitement in the pictures. This morning I drove Taj to the ODC (Omani dive centre) to hang out at the beach with Sara, Jeff, and Courtney.

So, that is basically it. I will try to update more frequently. Oh, it is now Ramadan, which means swimming is shorter (I have started coaching swimming already) and the traffic isn't as bad until 9 pm. I'll explain more when I have more energy or when I see you! Alright! Adeu, peace be with you.

Much love,

Zachis